Posts Tagged ‘Salt Grill’

Salt Grill & Sky Bar has always been on my list of restaurants for special occasions thanks to the good food, exquisite presentation and amazing near 360 degree views of Singapore from the 55th floor of ION Orchard. But to dine here costs a pretty penny which is why it is reserved for special occasions. But did you know that Salt Grill & Sky Bar has a “sibling” in the form of Salt Tapas & Bar located at Raffles City shopping centre, which offers dishes at much more wallet friendly prices?

Salt Tapas & Bar is an extension of the existing “Salt” Brand by celebrated Australian Chef Luke Mangan. The menu has recently been revamped and now presents quality modern tapas with an Australian twist, at affordable prices. I am always wary about tapas places as the portions tend to be miniscule while charging full appetiser prices. Not so at Salt Tapas & Bar. Quite a number of the dishes we tried, in particular the brunch menu items, are large enough to be considered as mains. And the amazing thing is that the pricing is comparable to cafes you find in Singapore, and we are talking about food from a celebrated brand name located in the heart of town! This is probably one of the best kept secrets and I wish I’d known about it earlier!

The brunch menu is particularly worthwhile checking out for its affordable prices. For example French toast with clotted cream and Okinawa ice cream at $15, or scrambled eggs with ratatouille on toast at $15 or even the grilled sirloin with mash, salad and poached egg at $18!

It seems like the turkey has hardly been stuffed before one needs to contemplate a fitting way to end the year with a blast. The truth of the matter is that I’m always quite shocked to discover (after Christmas) that the New Year is but 7 days away.

Well, what to do for New Year’s Eve has been put on the front burner after I received this invitation to sample Salt Grill & Sky Bar’s New Year’s Eve menu. And should I call it New Year Eve 2014, or New Year Eve 2015? December 31 is undoubtedly still in 2014, but put another way, it is also the eve of the new year of 2015! You tell me the answer.

I love dining at Salt Grill & Sky Bar. If you’ve been there, you’d know that the view is fantastic. You can see out for miles and miles, and some how, it feels like Singapore has fewer high rise buildings than I would have thought. Singapore boasts quite a number of roof top / sky high restaurants, but many are in the financial district. So, another thing that Salt Grill has going for it is its convenience, being perched 50 storeys above the ION Orchard shopping mall. This is probably why they’ve come up with a brunch menu as well as an afternoon tea service, to cater to the ladies of leisure (or aspiring ones) who may feel peckish after a spot of shopping. The private room, perched one level higher is also the spot for many a business dinner, as was the case the last 2 times I was there.

Anyway, after arriving for dinner, I was promptly told that I would be sampling ALL the dishes on New Year’s Eve 2014/2015 menu. No problem! I had just spent 1 hour at the Takashimaya Trim Shop jostling with the other early bird Christmas shoppers so I had dutifully worked up an appetite. As always, you will be greeted with a welcome soup, in the form of a coconut broth with Sydney spice served in a shot glass. It tastes exactly as its name suggests, and not only warms you up but whets your appetite in anticipation of what’s in store.

After the wonderful pictures that my friend took at the last Restaurant Week back in March at Salt Grill, I’ve been keeping a mental note about this place. I really love the look of the place, so much that earlier this year, I seriously considered holding my wedding here. The views are fantastic, if you are lucky enough to come on a blue sky day.

Anyway, finally got the opportunity to dine at Salt Grill & Sky Bar during the October 2012 Restaurant Week season. We got a seat next to the window, and the 2 chairs were already placed in such a way that we were facing the views. I guess that’s definitely a huge reason why people pay top dollar to come to Salt Grill & Sky Bar huh.

The restaurant was having a promotion so we got ourselves 2 glasses of wine to accompany the meal.

This salmon gravlax was the perfect starter. There’s just something about fresh and bright colours that whets the appetite. Salmon Gravlax is a Nordic dish comprising of raw salmon cured in salt, sugar and dill. The texture is very similar to smoked salmon, but in this case, the textures were jazzed up from just plain and slippery to having a bit more bite from the crispy slivers of onion rings. I don’t think I’ve ever had salmon together with orange but it all went very well together!

Here’s some pictures my friend took at Salt Grill today for lunch with his wife. I’ve never been to Salt Grill before but prior to this, I’d always wanted to dine here one day cuz the place looks so bright and cheery. He did mention that he was craving for more food even after this 3 course meal.

What a pity. Restaurant Week’s a time for restaurants to wow their 1st time customers so that they will then come back to dine at full prices. In my opinion, Restaurant Week’s really not the time to be stingy with your customers! It’s only 1 week and it’s the time to pump up the marketing! The set menu has only 2 or 3 choices per course, and if the diners and their dining companions are eating the same thing and voicing the same complains, the restaurant is done for.

Sunday 25 March 2012 last day of Restaurant Week for March 2012. Hope you have all made the best of it! If not, you may have to wait till October 2012 before Restaurant Week comes around again.

For those of you who don’t know about Restaurant Week, well Restaurant Week comes around twice a year. Participating restaurants (and they range from places like Equinox, Absinthe and Clifford to Tanjong Beach Club) will serve a 3 course meal for $25+++ for lunch and $35+++ for dinner. For super atas restaurants, an additional charge of $10 for lunch and $20 for dinner will be added to each diner.

Restaurant Week is the time to sample all the expensive restaurants you’ve always wanted to try but were scared to. $55 for dinner may sound a lot, but ala carte main courses at these place already cost $40 or more usually anyway, so you’re assured that at the very least, you won’t be paying more than usual for a 3 course meal on a normal day.

I went to Brasserie Les Saveurs at St Regis as well as Boathouse at Fullerton. Dinner at Brasserie Les Saveurs was absolutely delightful will stay in my memory for a long time to come. Lunch at Boathouse was nice, but slightly below expectations due to my ultra wonderful visit to Brasserie Les Saveurs. Will be blogging about the experiences very soon!

Actually, I’ve been to Restaurant Week once before, I believe in March 2011. That was to the German Restaurant Magma at Bukit Pasoh. Although the food was adequate, I found it to be very normal. I guess I was expecting the fact that it was Restaurant Week to mean that my meal would include something special, a more value for money meal or something. I just felt I was getting totally what I paid for. Turns out Magma Restaurant felt the same way about Restaurant Week and they are no longer a participating restaurant this time round. Not all restaurants are like that though. I totally felt I was getting more than my money’s worth at St Regis. But I have to admit it may be a gamble. Still, you’re unlikely to get less than what you paid for.